Dave (Dave)
* First seen on The Island by Hurley as the Lostaways scrambled to gather food from the supply drop in the episode "Dave". * Dave lost a slipper when Hurley followed (chased) him away from the supply drop. Hurley found the slipper, but Libby later said she didn't recall seeing him carry it. * In the flashback, Dave is Hurley's friend in the Santa Rosa Mental Institute. Hurley's doctor thinks Dave is a bad influence and doesn't want Hurley to change or lose weight. * Hurley's doctor takes a photo of Hurley with his arm around Dave. The doctor later shows the photo to Hurley. Dave is not in the picture and Hurley's arm is hanging over empty air. * Dave appears to be able to physically interact with Hurley, by slapping him and hitting him with coconuts. This interaction occurs in the hospital and on the island but since nobody else is present at the time these incident may just have happened in Hurley's head. * Hurley refuses to escape the mental hospital with Dave and instead locks him out of the building. Hurley later reveals that this led to a breakthrough in his therapy which resulted in his eventual release. * Dave tries to convince Hurley that the person he locked out of the hospital was real and that he imagined the breakthrough, the release from the hospital, winning the lottery and crashing on the Island. Dave tells Hurley that he is still in the Santa Rosa Mental Institute and that everything is a hallucination. Dave says that even he is a figment of his imagination, but he did let out the real Dave at the hospital. He says that he is the part of Hurley that wants him to escape the dream. As proof, he points out that the numbers he used to win the lottery and are used to reset the timer were learned from Leonard at the hospital. Then, as further proof, he points out that someone like Libby would never be romantically interested in him. * Dave leads Hurley to a cliff and tells him the only way he can escape the dream is by throwing himself off the cliff and challenging his mind to deny the hallucination. Dave plunges off the cliff himself and Hurley nearly follows him before being talked out of it by Libby. * When he jumps Dave tells Hurley "see you in another life", a phrase Desmond said to Jack. * Seems to have been the origin of Hurley's use of the word "dude". * Dave conspicuously uses Spanish words in the hospital ("Noche de tacos, amigo", "Queso", "Vamanos", "hombre") in but avoids them all together when he is on the island Theories * A figment of Hurley's imagination **This would seem to be confirmed by the flashback that includes Libby at the end of "Dave". **Also seems to be confirmed by the photo taken by Hurley's psychiatrist. **Also seems to be confirmed by Dave's constantly referring to food and what Hurley is eating. Dave appears on the Island at the food drop and twice when Hurley was sneaking and eating food. He even suggests that Hurley should eat while breaking out of the hospital and only refers to food freedom while standing outside the window. * It is possible that the island, not Hurley's subconscious, makes Dave appear. This would be similar to the book and films "Solaris". "Solaris" takes place in a space station which is similar to The Swan , and its main character is called Kelvin, just like Desmond's predecessor there. The purpose of the station is to observe a planet that has the power to make characters from the peoples' memory (and possibly from their imagination) come physically alive. This might also explain the appearance of Jack's dead father in season 1. This may also explain the appearances of Walt around the island. * Someone from Hurley's childhood who had a great impact on him. * One of the people Hurley blames himself for killing in the Collapsing Deck Accident. If so, then Dave's appearance could be similar to Jack's father, Sawyer's boar, Wayne speaking to Kate through Sawyer, etc. ** One of the people Hurley killed and Libby's husband; Libby blames Hurley for David's death and was trying to get close to him to exact her revenge (thus, her presence in the mental home). *** However, it should be noted that Libby said her husband died of a disease. * Just before jumping off the cliff, Dave says "See ya in another life" to Hurley. This was also Desmond's farewell of choice. This may indicate a connection between Desmond and Dave? ** It should be noted that the phrase "(an)other life" is used several times on the show, for instance, by Nadia to Sayid and by Richard Malkin to Mr. Eko. (see List of regularly spoken phrases) * Is David - Libby's deceased husband. ** Libby may know that Hurley can communicate with David's ghost, and that's why she tries to get close to him. * Dave may be a manifestation of the monster, which may have also appeared as Jack's father (Christian Shephard), Ana Lucia, and Eko's brother Yemi. **Yemi and Ana Lucia were not manifestations; they appeared in dreams to Eko and then Locke. This does not, however, rule out the fact that the monster could be psychic enough to control dreams The Polaroid *Dave claimed this polaroid was Photoshopped to fool Hurley into thinking "Dave" was not real. **Notice that in the polaroid, two men on the left side of the table behind "Dave" and Hurley are missing. They may also be figments of Hurley's imagination. ***Because Polaroid cameras are often difficult to adjust, under-exposure may have led to these people "disappearing" ****However, one man in the background is clearly right in front of the window, centered, and in the Polaroid all of the window framing can be seen **In the Polaroid, the black checkers do not touch the plate of celery. In the scene with Dave, they do. **In the Polaroid, Hurley is clearly not touching the table, the outline of his side by the table can be seen, yet when it was taken he is leaning up to the table **The polaroid picture appears to be taken in the nighttime - the windows are blackened. In the original scene, it is daytime. ***Polaroids are known for poor white-balance when the camera is improperly adjusted. This may simply be an issue with the camera * From Libby's point of view: **The polaroid was taken during the daytime **The checkers do not touch the plate **Dave is not in the picture **Hurley's robe exposes more of his shirt underneath * While photoshopping a picture is always possible, having it reprinted on a polaroid medium isn't, unless the photoshopped picture was then imaged by another polaroid camera. It can be clearly seen that the "checker" issue with the images simply involves the plate of celery being closer to the edge of the table. In the shots from Hurley's perspective, the plate of celery cannot be closer to the edge of the table because if it were, it would be colliding with Dave. Supposing Dave is imaginary, Hurley can simply be imagining the plate of celery closer to the checkers to make his "fantasy" into a reality. Also, no definite conclusion can be made regarding Hurley's robe due to the angle of the shots. Though one may appear to show more of Hurley's shirt, it is likely that it only appears to due to the angle, rotation, and distance the cameras are from Hurley. The differences could just be a general error in props & continuity. Its also possible that the light behind the windows was turned off so as not to backlight Hurley in the Poloroid shot. Trivia *The scene towards the end where Dave is trying to convince Hurley to jump off the cliff and "kill" himself in order to wake up, is similar to "Tech Support" telling César to jump off the skyscraper at the end of Abre los ojos. *When Hurley and Dave are walking down the stairs AFTER they waited for the security guard to leave, it can be seen that on the wall to their right, Dave does not have a shadow, only Hurley does. Category: Flashback CharactersCategory:Unsolved